by Rachel Green

Created on: May 09, 2009   Last Updated: May 10, 2009

I made a mental note of Lauren Hutton's 24/7 Anytime, Anywhere, SPF 18 hydrating mist sun protection, the first time I spotted it in Soft Surrounding's catalog. It sounded appealing; a person could just spritz on sun protection, on a whim, and go. But the retail price turned me off, approximately $20.

I took the plunge when my weighty guilt about occasionally running out sans sunblock was driving me to imaginary tears. I also fantasized about cutting the time I spend rubbing in Neutrogena Healthy Defense SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer in half or more.

I found Anytime, Anywhere on Ebay.com for a fraction of the price, thankfully, and I was quite excited to try it. It is a "matte mist," and seemed to reduce shine and hide my blackheads on my nose a little, which is always a blessing.

Pros:

- Lightly moisturizes, but at the same time seems to control oil.

- Someone could use it on the go, very quickly, out-and-about.

- Low-odor. Very light scent.

- Can use over makeup. Can be really useful if someone felt their sunblock has worn off throughout the day, but didn't want to remove all their makeup and then start from scratch.

- The packaging, albeit small, is super cute. It is square, simple, and I like the combination of orange and white.

- It is oil-free which is suitable for acne-prone skin.

- Finally, it is non-aerosol, so it is better for the environment.

- When you spritz the mist allover the face, with eyes closed, the coating will not burn your eyes. I have sprayed hands, spritzed the front of my neck and then, ended up rubbing my eyes, nothing burned. In the past, I have used SPF eye creams that have burned my eyes very badly, so this spritz has totally surprised me and passed the test in that regard.

Neutral:

- Contains the following natural antioxidants: aloe vera, green tea extract, orange peel wax and white tea extract. While I like the idea of antioxidants and potential anti-agers, I find many things are unproven, but go on reported as fact. I appreciate that these ingredients exist in the spray as opposed to not being in the spray, but if they weren't in the mist and it was significantly cheaper, I would appreciate that even more.

Cons:

- It is a 2 oz. bottle and quite a small amount, unfortunately.

- When you spray it on your face, you lamentably get a disgusting taste on your lips. I have been trying to find a way around this, even by trying to flip my lips under my teeth! I've resorted to having to wipe off the sunblock's residue off my lips with a washcloth, because it tastes so atrocious! The only way to fully prevent getting the SPF on your mouth is probably to spray on your palms and rub on your face, somewhat defeating the purpose of using the face mist.

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